The Knicks and Nets engaged in their fourth and final installation of their season series, in what has become a very entertaining rivalry now that they both contending for the hearts of New Yorkers.

And like two of the prior three matchups, today's 88-85 Nets' win came down to the wire, as Brooklyn (25-16) earned the season-series split -- and more importantly -- pulled within a game of the first-place Knicks (25-14) for Atlantic Division supremacy.

Joe Johnson started hot, cooled off, but then recovered by crunchtime to knock out the Knicks with a dagger baseline jumper with just 22.3 seconds remaining for the 85-84 lead. The bucket over J.R Smith was the eventual backbreaking shot, although both teams engaged in a free-throw shooting contest in the waning seconds before Smith's potential game-tying 3-pointer banked in and out at the buzzer.

Carmelo Anthony was the opposite of Johnson, as he was relatively hot early and in the middle, but fizzled late as he couldn't come up with the big bucket when the Knicks needed it most. He clanked a baseline jumper over Gerald Wallace with just 12 seconds remaining that could've answered Johnson's heroics. Anthony finished with a game-high 29 points, but it was the aggressive Nets' defense that bottled up the MVP candidate and held him to just two points in the fourth quarter.

The Anthony-Johnson duel was the aesthetic portion of the game, but the real meat and potatoes in deciding the outcome was the Nets' ability to control the paint and backboards. Brooklyn held a huge advantage on the boards, 52-37, and their bigs (center Brook Lopez and power forwards Kris Humphries and Reggie Evans) obliterated the Knicks' bigs (center Tyson Chandler and power forward Amar'e Stoudemire) to the tune of a combined 28 points and 33 rebounds to 22 points and 18 boards.

Sure, the Knicks have been shorthanded in the frontcourt all season, as Rasheed Wallace and Marcus Camby are out with foot ailments and Kurt Thomas is basically a non-factor, but this has been a recurring problem for the undersized Knicks all season. Anthony is a 6-foot-7 small forward and has made most of his starts at power forward this season. And while he's been a matchup nightmare on the offensive end for opposing traditional power forwards, he leaves the Knicks underwhelmed on the defensive block and backboards.

There's not much in the form of a remedy for New York -- unless they find a way to add someone like Kenyon Martin -- so this will basically become the theme for the Knicks for the remainder of the season any time they lose. As lengthy and savvy that Wallace and Camby are, they can't be counted on as the long-term answers, which means it's basically up to Chandler and Stoudemire as the enforcers of the paint -- a troubling proposition.

The Knicks are now 4-6 in their last 10 home games, while the Nets are 11-2 under interim coach P.J. Carlesimo, also making for a troubling proposition for those who root for the orange and blue.

The rest of the NBA universe is happy, however, that the Knicks-Nets rivalry is finally a real happening. The only downer for this thrilling conflict, however, is that NBA fans won't get to see this riveting matchup again, unless they meet down the line in the playoffs. Hopefully by then for the faithful, the Knicks will have found a way to match the Nets' intensity, skill, and girth in the post.